Coffee Art

Prototype Coffee Art by Sinthia Cousineau

Required Materials

Watercolor Paper or Mixed Media Paper
Small Containers
A Plastic Palette or Paper plate
Liquid Coffee
Coffee Grain Powder
A 4B to 6 B pencil
Tracing stylus
Tracing charcoal paper
Images to Trace
Masking Tape

Art Room Set-Up

When working with younger children, especially 5 year old's whose motor skills are less developed then older children it is important to plan a step by step activity. I started by taping the paper to the tape and place the materials needed for each child in their seat. The youngest children should sit beside the art educator so they can see the demonstration more easily. I then taped the charcoal tracing paper to the mixed media paper and then taped the sunflower image on tope of the charcoal tracing paper. For very young children it is important for the paper to be taped if not it would move as they trace and it would create errors in the image. Do not provide them with any wet material or coffee till after the image has been traced.

Project Steps

Step 1: Choose an Image to Trace

Tape the mixed media paper or watercolor paper to the table using masking tape. The masking tape should cover the edges of the paper.
Then place and tape the charcoal tracing paper (with the darker side touching the white paper) to the paper you just taped.
Place the image you wish to trace on top of the charcoal tracing paper. You can use masking tape again to help keep the image in place as you draw.

Step 2: Trace the Image

With one hand on the paper to hold the paper in place (especially if no masking tape was applied) use the writing hand (your dominant hand) to trace the image with a tracing stylos. Go over all the lines of the image with the tracing stylos, make sure you did not miss any lines.
Once you are certain the image has been fully traced you can remove the original image and charcoal paper.

Step 3: Add to Image or Fix Image

Use a 4B to 6B pencil to fix the image. For instance the parts that were forgotten when tracing. You can also add more to the image and make it more your own.

Step 4: Apply Liquid Coffee to the Image

Using a small paint brush, apply some liquid coffee to the image

Step 5: Apply Darker Coffee to the Image

Mix Coffee Grain Powder with a bit of water or liquid coffee in a plastic palette or plate.
Apply to the Image to create more values and add a shading effect to make the image look more 3D.

Step 6: Let the Image Dry

Let the image dry for a few minutes. You should speed up the drying process by using a hair drier applied to the image.

Step 7: Retrace the Image with the Pencil

Because the coffee removes some of the lead in the original tracing, retrace the image again to make the image stand out even more.
The effect of the lead and coffee creates a rustic look to your Image.
Sign your artwork.
Enjoy your coffee art!